Eragon: The New Riders
by nazamak
Summary: A tale of the newest generation of riders. The tale focuses on the character Aranas and her recently hatched dragon who has yet to be named.
1. Chapter 1: Egg Selection

**Chapter 1: The Egg selection**

The sun had been up for nearly an hour now yet the city still remained dark. The city of Tagrok, a relatively large city on the very western edge of the Beor Mountains is slowly starting to become more active as the first rays of light pierce the cities walls. A young lady not more than 17 years of age is running down the main street towards the fortress at the center. She is wearing long slacks on her legs, a shirt that is about a size too big, large boots, and a head wrap keeping her long curly golden hair out of her eyes.

Her breath was heavy as her mad dash for the towering fortress continued. Shops were starting to open as this six foot amber eyed mini titan passed them by. A man opening a bread store saw her and laughed a hearty bellowing laugh.

"Overslept again eh Aranas?" He called out to the girl.

She waved at him and smiled. "Yeah I did but I've still got a good feeling about this year. I know I can make it!"

The man chuckled and went back to opening his store. She could soon see the entrance to her destination. There before her stood tow large door to the fortress being guarded by ten men with pole arms. Outside was a massive crowd of people waiting in front of the doors. She ran up to the back of the crowd and leaned over putting her hands on her knees for support and tried to catch her breath. When she had she looked up and observed the crowd.

There were many Humans of all shapes and sizes and just as many Dwarves. She only counted six elves two male and four female, though there may have been more since they could easily blend in such a large crowd. The one that stood out the most though was the rather large male Kull standing near the front. Most everyone had some form of weapon at their sides and a few were conversing amongst themselves.

Then out from the sky came a mighty roar and the sound of massive wing beats. Everyone looked up to see a large silver dragon the size of three war horses descend from the sky and land on an opening in the top of the fortress. On the dragons back was a silver haired male elf strapped into his saddle. Everyone moved closer towards the entrance to try and get in, while the guards tried to stem the tide. After about five minutes of trying to calm people down the doors began to swing outward. The guards and the crowd backed out of the way as the doors creaked open.

Aranas gulped and walked inside looking up at the ceiling in awe. She made it inside as the doors closed. She smiled and squeezed her hands together to stop them from shaking with pure excitement. She'd never made it this far before, the doors always closed before she got there. One of the guards with a slightly fancier uniform than the rest-most likely the captain-stepped forward.

"All right listen up! You're all here to touch the eggs that our Dragon rider emissary has just brought in. We've received word that he's only managed to bring 17 eggs with him." There was a momentary uproar from the mob before the guard captain calmed them.

"Look they've been having trouble with the native Taja kesh balla tribes."

Aranas remembers the stories of the Taja as they're called around the city. They're a group of feral humans local to the area who believe that the Dragon Riders are unholy demon spawn. They also believe that their god has demanded they exterminate them and then take over their home land to prevent their evil from spreading further. There were apparently other stranger creatures that inhabited the land but there wasn't much talk of them.

The guard continued to speak. "The Taja have powerful mages and Our Rider says that they were lucky to get what they got. But because of this they're going to allow people in for the next three days to get **ALL** the eggs to hatch. So everyone of you will get a chance unless all 17 hatch before you get there. So get in line and we'll get moving. LET'S GO PEOPLE!"

Aranas got stuck way at the back of the line to where her back was almost up against the door they came through. The front of the line wound through the halls and they soon began to march forward. They eventually wound up a stair case and got to the roof where the room opened up to a large circular walled off area with dens carved into the walls. There in the center curled up on the floor was the massive silver dragon. In front of it was the silver haired elf male who rode the shinning beast in.

He looked over everyone then began to speak. "Greeting candidates! My name is Andrastos. As any of you who have been here before know I am the emissary between the riders and the town of Tagrok. For those of you that didn't you now know. Now things will be going differently this time around than any other. We usually let individuals touch eggs and wait for them to hatch on their own but time is of the essence. Therefore we have cast a spell each of the dragon eggs that will cause them to hatch after no longer than ten minutes. This is something we usually wish to take its course naturally but winter is coming and soon our passage will be frozen over."

He held up his hands to silence the hushed muttering. "Now listen we will begin the process immediately. Any ceremony will have to wait for when we arrive at our destination. Now the first person step forward and touch the first egg."

Time seemed to slow down for Aranas as she stood at the back of the line waiting to get her try. Eventually after what seemed like days she got to the front of the line to see a golden egg in front of her. She held out her shaking hand and touched the egg. What felt like an eternity passed and then, nothing. The Rider declared it a dud and called for next. She walked away and went to one of the dens carved into the wall where she wept gently to herself. _This was supposed to be the day._ Her thoughts were gloomy and of having to go back empty handed. The air eventually filled with the sound of little squawking dragon babies. This did nothing to help alleviate her heart ache. Then she heard the Rider say. "There is only one egg left. Who has not touched this egg yet. Aranas shot up and ran over throwing out her hands.

"I haven't!" She yelled desperately.

Andrastos the Rider looked at her outstretched hand and nodded. He placed the egg in her hand and she held it close. After about ten minutes Andrastos sighed and said.

"I am sorry young one but it is not meant to be."

She cradled it close and sobbed once not wanting this to be it. Then there was a soft squeak. She looked down at the egg wiping away a tear. She heard pecking at the inside of the egg. A crack appeared on top of it. She laughed once, twice, then lost control and jumped to her feet helping pry the top of the shell off.

"Come on little one you can do it. I believe in you!" She cheered at the hatchling.

Then it went still and some soft grunting and shifting could be heard inside the egg. Then four limbs pierced four parts of the egg and shattered it. There before her eyes sat a beautiful almost entirely Jade dragon with spines of a deep ocean blue. Aranas shed tears of joy and nuzzled her head against the dragons. "Hello there little one."

She then felt a sharp jolt in her arm and yelped setting the dragon down gently still wincing from the pain. She looked at her hand and saw the mark appearing before her eyes.

"Well I heard it was much worse tha-" Her words were cut short as a mind numbing pain racked her body. She fell to the floor and writhed for a moment then laid still trying to catch her breath.

She sat up slowly with the help of Andrastos the dragon by her feet looking concerned. Andrastos smiled at her and nodded.

"Welcome to the riders apprentice."

She wept tears of joy again and picked up the brilliant shining dragon and placed it on her shoulder. She stood there among many others with and without dragons. Andrastos strolled over to his dragon and smiled at everyone.

"Dragon Riders is what you have become today. You are protectors of peace and warriors of what you believe is right. Now there won't be any long speeches now. We haven't time. But just know that you have been accepted by your dragon. They chose **you** over everyone else. They are your life partners and that means you must be good to them so they will be good to you. Now the guards will take you to the closest entrance to the dwarf tunnels until you reach Tarnag where you will be sent up the Az Ragni and from there you shall go to the Gaena river. From there it will go East until you reach our destination. Now get moving and may your journey be safe. I shall meet you at the ships." And with that he hopped onto his Dragons back and launched into the sky buffeting them all with a gust of air.

The guard captain began to bark out orders. "All right you heard him! Those of you with Dragons get moving. Everyone else good luck next time. No time to say goodbye and I hope you have things packed and ready to go. Now move!" They were ushered out of the building and towards the outskirts of the town where the walls stood. They exited the city gates and made for the mountains. They eventually reach a steep cliff face and stopped. The guard called out a phrase that Aranas couldn't understand and then the wall began to move. The entrance was dimly lit and seemed cold.

Aranas was hesitant at first, shaking in her boots in a literal way. Then her dragon nuzzled close to her and she felt it's warmth, and her fear washed away. She looked at the cave entrance now and smiled. She stepped into it with everyone else and her last thoughts before the wall closed behind her were _I'm going to be a dragon rider!_


	2. Chapter 2: The Long Road

Okay so quick little thing from me the author of this fan fiction. I would simply like to say that in the first few days of putting this out I got two people to follow my story. I would simply like to say thank you to you two. I honestly expected this to slip by unnoticed and not really be cared for. Thank you for proving me wrong. Now enough gushing on with the story.

**Chapter 2: The Long Road**

Aranas sat in the tunnels beneath the Beor Mountains eating some bread and cheese. Her dragon who had yet to be named sat on her shoulder looking quizzically at the food. Aranas laughed softly to herself and said to the dragon. "You won't like that, trust me."

She picked up some scraps of meat that were on the ground next to her and began to feed her dragon. "I wish I knew what gender you are so I could name you." She said as she scratched the creatures chin.

"All right people we're moving on! Get your things and get walking. Make sure your dragon is with you." The Dwarf guard captain looked to one of the other guards and ordered. "Give me a head count and make sure it ends up at seventeen riders and seventeen dragons. And be quick about it for Gûnteras' sake!"

Aranas stood and began to move towards the back of the crowd when she felt something touch against her mind. She recognized her dragons touch-as she had felt it a few times before-and felt a sense of unease coming from its mind. She got a feeling of being less and lost. Then she realized what the dragon meant and right as she spoke up so did one of the guards.

"We're missing someone!" They both called out simultaneously.

The dwarf captain walked over to the guard first. "Are you sure?" When the guard nodded his certainty the captain went over to Aranas. "How did you know of this? Is the missing person a friend of yours?"

Aranas shook her head. "No my dragon noticed. I'm not quite sure-" Her words trailed off as she felt the dragons' consciousness brush against hers again and she saw an image of a young red headed dwarf girl and her orange dragon. "It was a young dwarf girl and an orange dragon."

The captain nodded and turned to his men. "All right I want four volunteers to go out and search for her the rest stay here with the riders and make sure no one else leaves! Go, go, go!"

Aranas stepped forward. "I would like to help."

"Eta. We can't have any more of you going out there and getting lost, and my men cannot keep an eye on you and look for the missing rider at the same time. You stay here."

"But I'm a rider. It's my job to help people. Especially a fellow rider. Besides I can reach out with my mind and look for hers. I don't see any mages amongst your men so you could use me."

The captain was about to protest when the guard who also noticed the missing rider stepped forward. "Captain I can take her. I know these roads well enough that she won't get lost."

The captain stroked his beard thinking for a moment, then threw up a hand in a resigned gesture.

"I don't have time to argue. We need to get these people moving again. Go and be quick. If no one's found her within the hour come back here and we'll think of something else."

The guard nodded and they spread out into the tunnels Aranas sticking close to her guide. When they were in the tunnels she bows her head slightly to him.

"Thank you sir, I really appreciate it. I'm Aranas by the way." She said with a smile.

"Bruundar is my name." He said as he held up his Flameless lantern.

He was a broad shouldered man wearing chainmail armor and small steel helm. He had a pair of small hand axes on his hips and a buckler on his right arm. He was tall for a dwarf as well. Where most came up to around four feet or so this one came up to about five. The tallest dwarf she had ever seen anyway. He had a large leather shoulder strapped bag and another bag on his back.

"Well Bruundar I'm going to try and open my mind to look for her. I won't be able to go more than a few feet at a time though as I'm still new to this."

She closed her eyes and reached out with her mind as far as she could in as large an area as she could muster. She felt nothing more than a few animals and insects.

"She's nowhere around here. Let's move forward and I'll try again." They continued like this for nearly half an hour before she stopped.

"Wait I think I found her!" She said as her mind brushed against the largest consciousness she'd found so far. Once she touched it the mind recoiled and put up a sloppy barrier in an attempt to shield itself. She searched around the mind and found another presence this one a little different from the other but very familiar. It had the same feel of that of a dragon. The dragon didn't seem to surprised at the foreign contact and merely gave off the sense of curiosity and slight unease.

Aranas then opened her eyes and said. "Follow me Bruundar!" She yelled as she ran in the general direction of where she felt them.

Eventually they came across a steep incline that led down past Aranas sight even with the lantern. Bruundar squinted looking down then pointed. "There she is!" He pulled the bag on his back off and unwound a long rope. He lowered it down.

"Now don't panic child I'm dropping a rope down grab on and we'll pull you up!" Bruundar said trying to reassure the girl and keep her calm.

"O-okay." Came the stammered shaking response.

"What's your name friend?" Called out Aranas.

"I-I'm Tada." She said as Bruundar began pulling her up.

"Hello Tada I'm Aranas. Is your dragon all right?" She said with concern in her voice.

"Yes. He just seems concerned with me." She said seeming a bit calmer.

"That's good. Does he have a name yet?" Aranas inquired.

"Yes he is Gáldhiem." She said.

"That's a lovely name Tada." Aranas reached down over the ledge and pulled her up as she was now within arms reach.

"There you go. Feeling better?" Aranas asked with a kind smile on her face.

Tada nodded looking up at Aranas. It was only when Aranas put Tada on the ground that she realized that Tada was only about three feet tall.

"My word I had no idea anyone as young as you was in our group." She said though not unkindly.

"I-I am twenty eight years old." Said Tada confused.

Aranas slapped her forehead and groaned. "You're older than me." She said a quite embarrassed at her blunder.

"It's okay. Most people mistake me for a child due to my small stature. I'm very sorry for wandering off but Gáldhiem wandered off on his own and I went to look for him and didn't notice this cliff."

"It's okay but we'd better get back to the group. We need to make it to Tronjheim before the day is out. Though down here I have no idea how they bloody tell."

Tada nodded and walked with Aranas and Bruundar back towards the group. As they leave Aranas hears soft muttering coming from a passageway off to her left. She looks down it and sees nothing. She then looks over to her companions to see if they had noticed it. They had not. She looked at the floor and began wringing her hands, whilst mumbling something to herself three times over. Tada looks at her with concern.

"Are you okay Aranas?" She asked.

"Yes I'm fine. But I was wondering how did you find out your dragon was male?" She asked with a smile.

Tada brightened up and cheerily explained. "Oh I know a bit of magic and I just used a spell that told me. Would you like me to find out for you? I'm sure there's a normal way but I don't know it."

Aranas smiled and nodded picking the dragon up off her shoulder and holding it out to Tada. Tada held her hand over the dragon and spoke. "Finna du ilumëo."

Then after a brief moment Tada looked up and said. "Your dragon is a girl. Why did you want to know?"

"Well I didn't want to give her a girls name only to find out it's a boy. But now that I know I shall call her Greta, after the woman who raised me."

"A fine name it is lass." Said Bruundar patting her on the shoulder.

"Now come on head back. We need to move." Bruundar ordered though not unkindly.

As Tada ran ahead Bruundar grabbed Aranas arm. "That was a fine job you did talking to her and keeping her calm. You're going to be a natural at this." He then let her go and trotted forward with Tada.

Aranas stood there for a moment; she looked behind her into the darkness. After a few moments of looking she followed the dwarves. She eventually caught up with them and the company kept moving. Aranas felt a bit of concern from Greta. "It's okay. I'm fine." And with that she walked to her two new friends and followed them to Tronjheim.


End file.
